Aerosolized Coal Fly Ash Particles, the Main Cause of Stratospheric Ozone Depletion, not Chlorofluorocarbon Gases

We present compelling evidence that supports our contention that aerosolized coal fly ash particles are the main agents responsible for stratospheric ozone depletion, not chlorofluorocarbon gases. Aerosolized coal fly ash particles, uplifted to the stratosphere, not only serve as ice-nucleating agents, but are trapped and concentrated in stratospheric clouds, including Polar Stratospheric Clouds. In springtime, as stratospheric clouds begin to melt/evaporate, said ozone-consuming coal fly ash particles are released making them available to react with and consume stratospheric ozone. Ceasing to contaminate the environment with aerosolized coal fly ash will decrease stratospheric ozone destruction, reduce global warming, and will significantly improve human and environmental health.


INTRODUCTION
Earth's biosphere is collapsing at an unprecedented rate, including and especially the stratospheric ozone layer that shields surface life from the deadly ultraviolet solar radiation. That collapse, which has been progressing for decades, is due to both deliberate and unintentional human activity. Discovering the causes of biosphere collapse, we submit, should be the highest priority for scientists. But all too often, scientists continue to plod along unquestioningly working in problematic paradigms, while ignoring paradigm shifting discoveries [1,2]. Here we question the idea that chlorofluorocarbon compounds (CFC's) are the main agents responsible for stratospheric ozone depletion, and present evidence that aerosolized coal fly ash is likely to be the most significant major cause of stratospheric ozone depletion, a cause that has been overlooked by the scientific community.
In 1982, McCormick et al. [3] reported sightings of Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSC) by the Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement II (SAM II) satellite system during 1979 northern and southern winters. From SAM II data, Hamill et al. [4] concluded that light extinction could not be due to ice crystals alone, which implies significant particulate matter is associated with stratospheric clouds.
In 1985, Farman et al. [5] reported that total ozone levels over Antarctica during the month of October had steadily decreased since 1970. In 1986, from satellite measurements Stolarski et The use of coal is beset with serious environmental problems, including the formation of acid rain by sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxides. But far more devastating problems are caused by coal fly ash, the annual global production of which was reported in 2014 as 130 million metric tonnes [21].
During industrial coal burning, the heavy ash settles beneath the burner; the light ash, coal fly ash, forms in the gases above the burner and exits the smokestacks, unless, as in Western nations, it is trapped by electrostatic precipitators and sequestered. Even so, ultrafine aerosols from coal burning are likely to escape electrostatic precipitators [22] or be wind-blown from sequestration areas [23]. But the most devastating adverse consequence for life on this planet is the deliberate, covert, near-daily, near-global jet-emplacement of particulates, evidenced as coal fly ash, into the upper troposphere ( Figure 2) [24][25][26][27].

COAL FLY ASH IN THE STRATOSPHERIC POLAR VORTEX
Coal fly ash effectively nucleates ice at conditions relevant to mixed phase clouds. Enhanced ice nucleation by coal fly ash aerosol particles is initiated by their porous structure [29]. In the scientific literature, coal fly ash particles are often classified or confused with mineral dust particles. The majority of cirrus clouds freeze, or nucleate around two types of seeds, "mineral dust" and metallic aerosols, presumably with important contributions from coal fly ash to both categories [30]. But as we describe with examples, there is considerable diversity of chemical composition which is characteristic of coal fly ash mineralogy. Figure 3 shows an example of a captured tropospheric ice nucleus consisting of nanometer carbon balls [31] compared with similar carbon balls extracted from coal fly ash [32,33]. Carbon nanoparticles from coal fly ash occur in a variety of forms, as shown in Table 1, some of which have been observed in the polar stratosphere [34], for example, Figure 4.   Some idea of the compositional range of coal fly ash nanoparticles is shown in Table 2. Table 2. Some examples of coal fly ash nanoparticle compositions.
Ozone is destroyed by reaction with halogens [69,70]. Coal burning in China led to an unexpectedly large atmospheric component of reactive bromine and chlorine in the atmosphere [71]. Coal fly ash contains halogen elements in the ranges shown in Table 3. Experiments are sometimes made to render coal fly ash safer and more amenable for commercial use, for example, as a component of cement. Experiments that employ ozone provide important information as to the ability of coal fly ash to destroy ozone. For example, the surfaces of coal fly ash carbon particles are oxidized by ozone [73] demonstrating that coal fly ash carbon particles kill ozone. Similar investigations also indicate that coal fly ash kills ozone [74,75].
Inferences regarding ozone destruction by the components of coal fly ash can be made on the basis of ozone destruction by similar compounds: Ozone is consumed by reaction with carbon [76,77]. Ozone is also consumed by reactions with mineral oxides [78][79][80][81][82]. Furthermore, ozone is consumed by reactions with oxides of iron , manganese [83,84]. Additionally, ozone is consumed by reactions with metals [85,86] and noble metals [84,87]. All of these substances occur in coal fly ash nanoparticles.

CONNECTIONS BETWEEN POLAR STRATOSPHERIC CLOUDS AND OZONE DEPLETION On the basis of three consecutive years of observations, Hamill et al. [4] notes: "[W]e show that the evaporation of the [Antarctic Polar Stratospheric] cloud is highly correlated in time with the decrease in ozone concentration."
There is general acknowledgement that aerosol particles can serve as cloud nuclei, however, nucleation is typically the extent of discussion. Our experience with aerosolized coal fly ash particles brought to ground by snowfall sheds some light on the connections between Polar Stratospheric Clouds and stratospheric ozone depletion.
For decades, with increasing frequency and geographic range, particulate matter has been jetsprayed into the troposphere (Figure 2). Internationally, officials decline to provide either the composition or the intent of the tropospheric particulate emplacement, and falsely assert that the jet-trails are harmless ice-crystal contrails [26,88]. The unknown jet-sprayed aerosol substance had to contain aluminum -found repeatedly in all rainwater samples taken. The aerosolized particulate matter was clearly not a natural product, such as desert sand, because the Earth's surface aluminum is generally chemically combined, locked up tightly, with oxygen and does not dissolve in rainwater.
We published evidence that the coal fly ash is the main aerosolized particulate jet-sprayed into the troposphere [25,89,90] by comparing element ratios relative to barium in rainwater and melted snow with corresponding ratios measured in the lixiviate of coal fly ash leaching experiments [67,91] (Figure 7). We have presented evidence [24] that tropospheric post-chemtrail snowfalls can collect and bring down coal fly ash aerosol particulates in a manner similar to the physical-chemical technique called co-precipitation [93] (Figure 8). One phenomenon we observed pertains to snow mold which sometimes forms beneath snow in northern latitudes, for example in Wisconsin, USA and Canada (Figure 9).  In springtime, as the snow begins to melt, it releases the trapped coal fly ash particles which descend and are re-trapped on the underlying snow mold. These observations suggest a commonality in behavior that is applicable to Polar Stratospheric Clouds and ozone destruction.
Coal fly ash particles, lofted into the stratosphere, not only serve as ice-nucleating agents, but are further trapped by clouds, including Polar Stratospheric Clouds. In springtime, the icy stratospheric clouds melt/evaporate releasing their trapped coal fly ash particles, and making those ozone-consuming coal fly ash particles readily available for reaction with and destruction of ambient stratospheric ozone.

CONCLUSIONS
We have presented compelling evidence that supports our contention that aerosolized coal fly ash particles are the main agents responsible for stratospheric ozone depletion, not chlorofluorocarbon gases. Aerosolized coal fly ash particles, uplifted to the stratosphere, not only serve as ice-nucleating agents, but are trapped and concentrated in stratospheric clouds, including Polar Stratospheric Clouds. In springtime, as stratospheric clouds begin to melt/evaporate, said ozone-consuming coal fly ash particles are released making them available to react with and consume stratospheric ozone.
Aerosolized coal fly ash particles are responsible, not only for the destruction of stratospheric ozone, which shields surface-life from deadly solar ultraviolet radiation, but for harm to human and environmental health. Published scientific and medical articles implicate aerosolized coal fly ash in neurodegenerative disease [95], COPD and respiratory disease [96,97], lung cancer [98], cardiovascular disease [99], COVID-19 and immunopathology [100,101].
Aerosolized coal fly ash contributes to global warming [102], disrupts habitats [90], contaminates the environment with mercury [24], decimates populations of insects [103], bats [104], and birds [94]. Aerosolized coal fly ash also kills trees [105,106], exacerbates wildfires [107], enables harmful algae in our waters [108], and, as described here, destroys the stratospheric ozone layer that shields surface-life from the sun's deadly ultraviolet radiation. Despite the official narratives of "ozone recovery" due to the Montreal Protocol, stratospheric ozone levels continue to decline [109]. Ozone depletion has already led to an alarming increase in deadly ultraviolet radiation B and C penetration to Earth's surface, with increasingly apparent devastation to both plants and animals [110].
Unless global populations demand an end to the technologically-based assault on our environment, replete with its dissemination of false information [111], we will inevitably continue to charge forward in the first ever anthropogenic species extinction.